Taiwan's Central News Agency reports (via Patently Apple) that Apple's manufacturing partner Foxconn, also known as Hon Hai Precision, is currently working with Apple to test several designs for an Apple television set in the range of 46-55 inches.

Quote:

Hon Hai, the world's largest contract electronics maker, has declined to respond to the reports, saying that it never comments on specific business deals with any single client.

However, the Hon Hai source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the initial phase of tests on the TVs has kicked off.

Nevertheless, the source said it is unlikely that shipments of the appliances will begin as soon as the end of next year.

The source claims that Apple may be looking to show off its new television products at CES next month in Las Vegas, but that seems difficult to believe given Apple's penchant for avoiding trade shows and for holding its own media events to introduce its products as close as possible to launch. With the report apparently claiming that Apple's television sets are unlikely to launch in 2013 and other recent claims that Apple's television projects are being slowed by difficult content negotiations, there would be little chance of Apple showing off anything at CES.

The report notes that using displays in the claimed range of 46-55 inches gives Apple flexibility in deciding on one or more vendors to supply LCD panels for the television sets. Foxconn has worked closely with Sharp and has made an investment in a Sharp LCD factory, but the report's source indicates that it is unlikely that Sharp panels will be used in the Apple television set.

I find it interesting that they are discussing 46" and higher....even larger than I would have expected. Could be very interesting for the market...but I seriously doubt that there would be anything at CES this year.

I'll be happy if they top out at 55 inch. That way I won't be interested in getting one and can save some coin. I'm worried they'll hit 60 and get into my range.

It's really touches on why I never thought they'd gt into the TV market. Too many people have too wide a range on needs. Pulse, even only a few 55 inch sets in the back will tax their storage in store. Maybe they'll be on display at the stores, but online only, at least for the big ones.

As others have said, Apple doesn't do CES. Why get lost in the noise of that crowd when you can get global news coverage for a standalone event?

I'm most interested in two aspects of the purported Apple television:

What does it bring to the table beyond what a run-of-the-mill TV will give?

How will Apple achieve their usual margins without pricing themselves out of the market?

It's too obvious to say that it could be a TV with integrated Apple TV functionality, because there is no way to add the functionality of a $99 set top box to a normal TV and get decent margins. It has to be more than that. I'm leaving it to the brains in Sunnyvale to come up with something that we didn't know we needed in a television.

The other question, of course, is the name of the device. The name iTV is already taken, and Apple TV is already in use for a different product. How about the Holodeck?

A telepresence feature would need a sensor (camera) to detect when someone is in the room in order to perform some programmed action such as turn the TV on from standby mode, increase or decrease volume, etc.

And as has been Apple's recent practice, this camera would NOT have any sort of warning light to let you know that it was on.

iMacs have a green warning light telling you when the camera is on and active. But none of the iPods, iPads, iPhones have any such warning light.

Why is that???

And there is no hardware control to turn off the camera either. Creepy.

A telepresence feature would need a sensor (camera) to detect when someone is in the room in order to perform some programmed action such as turn the TV on from standby mode, increase or decrease volume, etc.

And as has been Apple's recent practice, this camera would NOT have any sort of warning light to let you know that it was on.

iMacs have a green warning light telling you when the camera is on and active. But none of the iPods, iPads, iPhones have any such warning light.

Why is that???

And there is no hardware control to turn off the camera either. Creepy.